Vicar forgives girls who bullied his daughter to death

An Anglican vicar whose adopted daughter was bullied into leaping to her death
from a third-floor balcony by two teenage girls said that he has forgiven
her tormentors.

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Rosimeiri Boxall died in May last year after being assaulted and tormented by Oluwakemi Ajose, 19, and 15-year-old Hatice CanPhoto: PA

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The Rev Simon Boxall said he and his wife Rachel refused to be shackled by bitterness over the death of their daughter RosiePhoto: HEATHCLIFF O' MALLEY

By Caroline Gammell

7:50PM GMT 18 Nov 2009

The Rev Simon Boxall said he and his wife, Rachel, refused to be “shackled by bitterness” over the death of their daughter, Rosie, whom they adopted in Brazil when she was three.

The 19 year-old died in May last year after being assaulted and tormented by Oluwakemi Ajose, 19, and 15-year-old Hatice Can, who were found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey yesterday.

The court heard that the two teenagers slapped and punched Miss Boxall and pulled her hair after getting into a row over a boy.

The pair sprayed deodorant in Miss Boxall’s face and branded her a “whore”, before she jumped 30ft from the window of the south London flat that they briefly shared.

Part of the attack was filmed on a mobile phone and showed Miss Boxall cowering in fright with her head in her hands, but not fighting back.

As she lay dying in the street below, Can, who was only 13 at the time, stood over her and was heard saying: “Serves you right, *****.”

Ajose and Can were both known to the police for offences including shoplifting and actual bodily harm.

The older girl is believed to have a personality disorder and is being assessed under the Mental Health Act.

Despite the brutality of the attack, Mr Boxall, a vicar at the Open Gateway Community Church in Thamesmead, south London, said he and his family were praying for the assailants. “We want them to know we forgive them. That does not mean that what they did 'doesn’t matter’. Of course it does,” he said.

“Forgiveness means that we refuse to be shackled by bitterness and our prayer is that forgiveness will allow the girls to be released from the burden of what they have done.”

Miss Boxall was adopted by Mr Boxall and his wife after being abandoned as a baby by her alcoholic mother.

The couple, who have four natural sons, were working in Rio de Janeiro as missionaries at the time.

They adopted her when she was three but only moved back to Britain in 2005, when Miss Boxall was 16.

She had poor English and struggled to settle in. She left Plumstead Manor School in March 2007 and then left home in August of that year, leading an itinerant lifestyle.

She befriended Ajose, known as Kemi, at school and they found temporary accommodation in a hostel for the homeless in Blackheath, south London, a few days before her death.

On May 17 last year, Ajose and Can bullied Miss Boxall for hours and threatened to strangle her. It started with a jealous row over a boy called Shane, whom Miss Boxall and Can had met the day before.

Can, described in court as “controlling and violent”, directed Ajose’s punches.

She invited three boys to the flat to watch the entertainment and one filmed the attack on his mobile phone.

Miss Boxall died later that night and Ajose and Can were arrested on suspicion of murder. Both tried to blame the other. Ajose told the police that Can goaded Miss Boxall by saying: “Do you want to die? Jump out of the window.” Both Ajose and Can were remanded in custody for sentencing on Dec 15.

Det Insp Bob Mead said outside court: “Ajose and Can both claimed during the trial that their actions were no more than high jinks and a playground catfight.

“Rosie clearly did not perceive it that way, and neither did the jury.

“Bullying needs to be taken seriously and I would urge the victims of bullying 'please don’t just put with it’.”